Italy's foreign minister has met with his Maltese counterpart following a clash over a migrant rescue boat that escalated into a European-wide showdown.

The Italian foreign ministry said that Italy's Enzo Moavero Milanesi and Malta's Carmelo Abela, met Friday in Rome and expressed "the shared desire to work together in tight coordination, especially in European capitals, about migration in terms of revising" EU asylum regulations.

Italy had initially insisted that Malta take in the Aquarius rescue ship and the 629 migrants onboard rescued in a series of operations last weekend. Malta refused, saying it wasn't involved in the rescue. Italy refused as well, leaving the migrants stranded at sea until Spain stepped up to take the Aquarius in.

The Aquarius is currently en route to Valencia, having changed course Thursday due to rough weather.

In a statement, the Maltese government said the two ministers “reaffirmed their strong commitment to intensify the excellent and historical bilateral ties on various levels between the two countries. They underscored the opportunities for the further strengthening of such relations, in particular with regard to close coordination in the field of migration, both on a bilateral and well as a European level, in the context of the revision of the Dublin Regulation.”

Malta and Italy also reaffirmed their common will to deepen collaboration on matters of mutual and longstanding interest, the government said.

Earlier, Pope Francis said that the Gospel teaches that it's wrong to leave migrants "at the mercy of the waves," an apparent critique of Italy's new migration policies.

The pope made the comments Friday during an audience with Italian workers. It was the second time in as many days that the Argentine Jesuit has referred to the plight of refugees after Italy's decision to refuse entry to a rescue boat with 600 migrants aboard.

In his speech, Francis lamented how many people in the world are excluded from work because of war or environmental degradation and said that those living comfortable lives should seek to help them.

The Gospel, he said, "teaches us and our world to not leave to the mercy of the waves those who leave their lands hungry for bread and justice."